by Before I begin my post, let me wish my fellow readers A Happy Diwali in advance
Diwali is always a special function for every Indian, wherever he’s in the planet. A festival that can offer unlimited bundles of joy to every person, celebrating with friends, families and loved ones.
A festival of lights and sounds, with cities being decorated in a grandeur way and lights lit up all the way to the roof .People coming out in large numbers , way early in the morning and start bursting crackers and distributing sweets and proceed to temples for a special worships
However the very same festival has seen its change over the years to be seen as an entirely different thing. What was once a festival of lights and crackers is now a holiday for Bollywood and Kollywood to celebrate its new releases and people turning out in large nos for the movie halls to worship their cine stars instead of actual gods
Back in my school days , Diwali in Chennai was almost like a 2 day function with streets lined up with cracker shops in almost every neighborhood selling every type of cracker from “Lakshmi vedis” to “Kuruvis” ,”Atom Bombs” , “Hydrogen bombs” , “Double shot cracker” and those innumerable “Bomb Rockets” . The prices too were very reasonable and almost every family purchased for nearly 2000-5000 , with some rich families going the extra mile by buying the 100,000 wala for nearly 25,000 Rs
The day began quite early in the morning , at around 4 AM where one used to take a Oil Head bath , worship the gods with a special Pooja ,wear new clothes and then proceed to burst crackers till late afternoon taking small breaks only to splurge on those extensive sweets and savouries, Gulab Jamun being a definite inclusion
The house was filled with all relatives from different cities who somehow managed to take the previous days off and arrive in time to celebrate Diwali with the entire family as a whole. The house literally looked like a mess with the kids running around , the women extremely busy in the kitchens making tons of sweets and Snacks . Post which the sweets were then distributed to the neighbours in exchange for even better sweets from them. TV’s were hardly switched on as the 2-3 popular channels would just show some relatively new movie and a temple pooja with a old man’s discourse about life’s principles
The whole day meant about being with the entire family as one and talking about each other’s lives and enjoying it together. The nightfall brought about the second round of bursting crackers with the rockets now coming in and brightly lighting up the sky
Diwali is always a special function for every Indian, wherever he’s in the planet. A festival that can offer unlimited bundles of joy to every person, celebrating with friends, families and loved ones.
A festival of lights and sounds, with cities being decorated in a grandeur way and lights lit up all the way to the roof .People coming out in large numbers , way early in the morning and start bursting crackers and distributing sweets and proceed to temples for a special worships
However the very same festival has seen its change over the years to be seen as an entirely different thing. What was once a festival of lights and crackers is now a holiday for Bollywood and Kollywood to celebrate its new releases and people turning out in large nos for the movie halls to worship their cine stars instead of actual gods
Back in my school days , Diwali in Chennai was almost like a 2 day function with streets lined up with cracker shops in almost every neighborhood selling every type of cracker from “Lakshmi vedis” to “Kuruvis” ,”Atom Bombs” , “Hydrogen bombs” , “Double shot cracker” and those innumerable “Bomb Rockets” . The prices too were very reasonable and almost every family purchased for nearly 2000-5000 , with some rich families going the extra mile by buying the 100,000 wala for nearly 25,000 Rs
The day began quite early in the morning , at around 4 AM where one used to take a Oil Head bath , worship the gods with a special Pooja ,wear new clothes and then proceed to burst crackers till late afternoon taking small breaks only to splurge on those extensive sweets and savouries, Gulab Jamun being a definite inclusion
The house was filled with all relatives from different cities who somehow managed to take the previous days off and arrive in time to celebrate Diwali with the entire family as a whole. The house literally looked like a mess with the kids running around , the women extremely busy in the kitchens making tons of sweets and Snacks . Post which the sweets were then distributed to the neighbours in exchange for even better sweets from them. TV’s were hardly switched on as the 2-3 popular channels would just show some relatively new movie and a temple pooja with a old man’s discourse about life’s principles
The whole day meant about being with the entire family as one and talking about each other’s lives and enjoying it together. The nightfall brought about the second round of bursting crackers with the rockets now coming in and brightly lighting up the sky
However with the mobile era, things have changed drastically . Today ,what Diwali means to me is one among the following things :
1) Diwali means Online E-Commerce sales, where Flipkart/Amazon/Snapdeal/Jabong offers massive online discounts for electronics, shoes and clothes .Remember the #BigBillionDay ?
2) Release of a new film by our favorite hero and watching it first day first show with its massive celebrations outside the theater with fireworks and garlands
3) Innumerable new movie releases in TV and interviews of Popular Bollywood stars in all channels back to back
4) Cracker Bursting as a Sampler , being it Diwali day and not incessant bursting
5) Sweets bought in popular sweet shops than taking efforts to make it at home and redistribute them
6) Relatives wishing their families over a FB message or a skype call than actually making plans to go visit them and spend time
7) Wake up late being a holiday ,wear new clothes and again go shopping hunting for better deals in stores for Diwali sale
However this Diwali , I’d like to make it a lot more special and wish to celebrate the way it should really be .
That means more time with family , burst crackers ,have a Pepsi, help family members decorate the house and genuinely meeting people face to face, spend time and wishing them a Happy Diwali !
Do check out Pepsi Ghar Wali Diwali and celebrate Diwali to the fullest
